Last week, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had decided to postpone the Women’s World Cup from March 2021 to February 2022 in New Zeland. This decision was made while keeping in mind that all players will not be able to get enough match-practice ahead of the tournament due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Talking about the same, the Indian ODI skipper,Mithali Raj has welcomed this decision of ICC as according to her, the original schedule would have been quite hectic for the players.
As per the quotes in Hindustan Times, the Indian ODI captain said, “One has to look at the bright side. The slot for the World Cup was in February and our domestic season will start only in October-November due to COVID-19. That would have meant we would have had just three months of preparation going into the World Cup.”
She further added, “After a long break, the players have to start from scratch and will take some time to get into the groove. Keeping that in mind, the schedule would have been extremely cramped and taxing for them.”
ALSO READ: Rajasthan Royals’ Fielding Coach Tests Positive Of Covid-19
In her illustrious international career of 22 years, Mithali has won many accolades for Indian as she has often been regarded as India’s greatest female batter. She has represented India in 10 Tests, 209 ODIs, and 89 T20Is, in which she has amassed 663, 6,888, and 2,364 runs respectively.
However, there were some rumors making rounds that the next World Cup would be her last ICC tournament and she would be looking for retirement after that. However, many fear that after the rescheduling of the ICC tournament, Mitahali Raj will take an early retirement and bid goodbye to the game of cricket.
Rubbishing such claims, Mithali reckoned, “With the kind of uncertainty, and to give all teams an equal opportunity to prepare, the postponement looks fine. The players are disappointed as everyone was looking forward to it. I was already planning to play through 2021 and now the plan automatically falls into place as the World Cup is postponed to February 2022.”
ALSO READ: Glenn Maxwell Picks His All-time IPL XI, Omits Rohit Sharma
The 37-year-old had also expressed her excitement overplaying the Women’s World Cup 2022 in a reply to the tweet by former Australian star Lisa Sthalekar.
Oh absolutely , my eyes are fixed firmly on the trophy 🏆. with all niggles recovered , mind and body fresh and stronger than before I am definitely looking at World Cup 2022 .
— Mithali Raj (@M_Raj03) August 8, 2020
